Ultra-thin substrate with integrated ESD protection

14th November 2016

Anna Flockett

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The need for ESD protection in smartphones and automotive electronics is being driven by the demand for increased safety and reliability and to take the size of devices even smaller. CeraPad is the development from TDK Corporation, presented at electronica, an ultra-thin ceramic substrate that features integrated ESD protection within its multilayer structure and eliminates the need for discrete ESD components.

CeraPad ensures the highest degree of integration of ESD protection in such sensitive applications.

CeraPad’s ESD strength of up to 25kV is more than three times higher than the standard 8kV of Zener diodes. Moreover, the ceramic substrate features a high thermal conductivity of 22W/mK that is more than three times better than that of conventional carriers, even though it is significantly slimmer with a thickness of just 300-400µm. Depending on customer requirements, the CeraPad contact pads can be designed for both standard SAC (Sn/Ag/Cu, 260 °C) reflow processes and eutectic bonding (AuSn, 320 °C).

The new technology is suited for LED applications where the number and density of LEDs per unit continues to grow. CeraPad enables customised chip-scale packages (CSP) for standard LED elements from CSP1515 down to CSP0707. A further advantage is CeraPad's low coefficient of thermal expansion (6ppm/mK), which is almost identical to that of LEDs. As a result, there is nearly no mechanical stress between substrate and LED when temperature changes.

Similar to printed circuit boards, CeraPad’s multilayer technology can be leveraged to design a kind of integrated circuit by interconnecting the internal redistribution layers with vias. As a rule, today’s matrix LEDs consist of several dual LEDs connected in series. By contrast, the new CeraPad module now enables for the first time a new kind of LED matrix array with up to hundreds of LED light points that can be individually controlled.

Application designers will be able to use this technology to create innovative high resolution and safety-relevant light effects in the smallest of spaces, for example in multiple LED flashes in smartphones or in adaptive headlights in cars.

With CeraPad TDK offers attractive customer-specific packaging solutions that address the future challenges of rising IC sensitivity, giving customers a promising new way to focus on light design and increasing the light efficiency of LEDs.

Main applications